Ethnic Somalis in the eastern Ethiopian city of Jigjiga are leaving amid growing violence, a BBC reporter in the city says.

The city is the administrative centre of the country's Somali region.

There has been tension in recent months between the regional and federal authorities. The Somali regional president, Abdi Mohamoud Omar (also known as Abdi Iley), has been accused of creating a special police force that's targeting Oromos.

Violence in Jigjiga and elsewhere in the city has left several people dead.

The federal government says it will deploy national forces to the area, the state-linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate is reporting.